The word "positioning" has come a long way in the pursuit of sound marketing practice. Positioning will help you to focus on your role and target marketing. Like any other word, Positioning had codified it in a way that made it possible for other marketers to think different approaches to the market.

Grasping The Concept

If you think of marketing as a process to move your services towards the client, there are two ways to view the process -- either you sell people what they want, or you try to persuade people to buy what you want to sell. The second is an almost inevitably fruitless exercise in egocentric behavior. I can make you buy anything because I'm a good at selling. It's an uphill trudge, and yet, it seems to be the way to which most people gravitate.

Selling people what they want is obviously the better way, although it's not without its rigors. How do you know what they want? How do they know what they want? When nylon was invented in the 1940s, could you have asked women who had never heard of the stuff if they wanted nylon hose?
We do know that people buy what they need. They are sold what they're persuaded they need. And if you have to persuade people that they need something, isn't that the same as selling what you want to sell?

Not quite -- if you can cast your service in a context that addresses the consumer's needs or concerns. DuPont solved the nylon problem by asking, "Would you be interested in hose that were as sheer or beautiful as silk hose, but wore like iron, and didn't cost any more than silk?"
And that was positioning before the word was ever used. DuPont, and other good marketers of their day, did three things:

1.      They defined consumer expectations
2.      They figured out how to meet those expectations with a product they had developed that nobody had ever heard of.
3.      They asked themselves, "What fact or value can we communicate to the market that would address those expectations and concerns?"

From those three points, they developed the marketing campaign that sold nylons. That's positioning.

And these three points define the clearest approach to positioning that might be used by an accounting, law, or consulting firm today -- no matter what the size of the firm. But articulating a position is hardly a total marketing plan. A number of elements must be addressed to turn a position into a marketing plan.

The Difference Between A Position And A Mission

A caveat. There is a distinct difference, too often ignored, between a position and a mission.
A mission is a projection of objectives. It defines what the firm thinks its purpose is -- where it would like to go in the business context... how it would like to serve its clients... how it would like to be perceived by the community it serves. It is, essentially, a wish list and a blueprint for the company. But a mission is the company's business, not the client's. I say to you, "I would like you to be my friend and for you to love me." That's my mission. And you say to me, "That may be what you want, but what's that got to do with what I want? Why should I be your friend, and what have you done for me that's lovable?"

No, a mission statement is not a position. Nor is it a niche, in which you choose a specific capability, or a specific industry, and promote your capabilities or experience in that industry to a carefully defined audience. In fact, positioning enhances both niche and target marketing.
A position says, "I understand what you want and need, and what concerns you most, and I'm going to give it to you."

In practical terms, how does it work? 
(xzy2)